Door-latch.



Ets. WHEELER. E

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1910.

974,323. Patented Nov. 1,1910.

2 SHEETBfBHE-BT 1'.

ZW/ZJWZZZZ$ Inventor Attorneys E. S. WHEELER.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 20, 1910. 974,323, Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor Attorneys by I PATENT OFFICE.

EivoeH s. WHEELER, OF CENTRALIA, WASHINGTON.

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

Application filed June 20, 1910. Serial No. 567,905.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENocH S. WVIIEELER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Centralia, in the county of Lewis and State of lVashington, have invented a new and useful Door-Latch, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to' door latches and has for its object the provision of a simple form of latch which can be readily applied to either a sliding or a swinging door and which will operate to positively engage its keeper when the door is closed and securely fasten the door in such position.

A further object is to provide a latch which can be operated from either side of the door.

Another object is to provide means whereby the latch can be employed to secure a swinging door in either open or closed position.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accom anying drawings, the preferred form 0 the invention has been shown.

In said drawings:Figure 1 is a front elevation of a ortion. of a swinging door and the adjoinlng wall, said door having the present improvements applied thereto, one of the keepers being shown upon the wall and the other upon the door jamb. Fig. 2 is a section on line A-B, Fig. 1, the keepers and parts of the latch strip and handle being shown in plan. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line C-D Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the handle of the latch and adjacent parts, the pivot block thereof being partly broken away. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the latch applied to a sliding door, said latch being shown in engagement with its keeper. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on line EF Fig. 5. Fi 7 is a perspective view of the keeper usec in connection with the latch when employed upon either a swinging or a sliding door.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference G designates a door H designates a door jamb and I designates a portion of the wall adjoining the hinge edge of a swinging door. The latch used in connection with the door consists of a recessed pivot block 1 secured to one face of the door by means of a screw 2 or the like extending through the recess and entirely through the door said screw or bolt also extending through another recessed plate 3 upon the other side of the door, both these plates being held in position by the bolt or screw 2. A latch strip 4 extends into the recess in block 1 and is pivotally mounted on the bolt 2, this strip having its intermediate portion bent outwardly to form a grip or handle. A tongue 5 extends from said intermediate portion and is slidably mounted within slots (3 formed in the sides of an elongated guide plate 7. Ears 8 extend from the ends of this plate and are secured to the door by means of screws or other suitable fastening devices, there being upwardly and downwardly extending recesses within the plate 7 and communicating with the slots (3. Stems 10 extend upwardly and downwardly from that portion of the tongue 5 within the slots 6 and are adapted to work within the recesses 9, the upper stem being provided with a coiled spring 11 which bears upwardly against the plate 7 and downwardly against the tongue 5 so as to hold said tongue normally in contact with the lower end walls of the slots 6.

The strip 4 and its guide plate 7 are reversible so as to enable the latch to be used either at the right or at the left side of a door and, by utilizing the two stems 10, it will be apparent that the spring 11 can be placed on either of them which is uppermost.

The tongue 5 is adapted to extend beyondv the edge of the door so as to lap the jamb H and the extremity of the tongue is enlarged to form upper and lower shoulders 12, there being an elongated slot 13 within this enlarged portion and which is of sulficient size to receive the keeper hereinafter described.

A stem 14 projects from the inner face of the tongue 5 and through a slot 15 cut into the door G, the free end of this stem being attached to one end of a handle 16 one end of which is pivoted upon the bolt 2 and within the recess in plate 3. This handle has a short slot 17 through which the bolt 2 extends so as to permit the handle to have a short sliding movement as well as a pivotal movement. An car 18 extends from the handle adjacent its connection with the stem 14 and an actuating cord or chain 19 may be attached to this car and extended through an opening 20 in the door at a point above the latch.

The keeper used in connection with the latch has been illustrated in detail in Fig. 7 and is preferably formed of a threaded stem 21 having a head 22 at one end which is provided upon its upper face with a transversely extending shoulder 23, that portion of the head between the shoulder and the free end of the head being concaved from side to side and inclined downwardly toward the free end oft-he head. An opening 24 is formed within the head and between the shoulder and the free end thereof and is adapted to receive a padlock such as shown, for example, by dotted lines at 25.

If desired, another keeper of the same or smaller size may be secured to the wall I, both of the keepers being the same distance from the end edge of the door and both of them in the path of the apertured portion of the latch strip.

IV hen the door is shut the upper wall of the slot 13 will come into contact with the inclined upper face of the keeper 22 and the latch strip will therefore be elevated and the spring 11 placed under stress. As soon as the latch strip passes the shoulder 23, the spring 11 will shift it downwardly back of the shoulder so as to prevent the door from opening. To release the door either the handle portion of the latch strip 4 or the handle 16 may be swung upwardly, or, if the door is to be operated from a point remote therefrom, the cord or chain 19 can be pulled so as to elevate the handle 16. While the latch strip is in engagement with the keeper, the padlock 25 may be placed in engagement with the apertured head of said keeper and the door thus securely locked in closed position. By swinging the door open to its greatest extent, the apertured portion of the latch strip can be caused to move into engagement with the keeper located upon the wall I and the door will thus be held open until released.

Should it be desired to use the latch in connection with a sliding door, the parts may be arranged as illustrated in Figs. 0 and 6. The latch strip, block a, guide plate 7 are all arranged in the same manner as has heretofore been described. The block or plate 3, however, is preferably located directly under the stem 14 so that the handle 16 extends vertically instead of horizontally. As this handle portion has a slot 17 therein, it is capable of sliding vertically during the raising and lowering of the stem 14: with the latch strip. The keeper instead of being arranged with its head horizontal, is arranged with said head parallel with plate 7 and with the concave face of the head nearest the door. It will be seen, therefore, that when the door is moved to closed position, the enlarged end of the tongue 5 will pass into the slot 24:, the lower shoulder 12 engaging one wall of the slot so as to hold the latch strip in position within the keeper. A padlock can then be placed in engagement with the slotted portion of the latch strip, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5, and the door will therefore be securely locked in closed position.

Various changes can of course be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

hat is claimed is A latch including a pivoted latch strip, a tongue at one end of said strip and having a slotted portion provided with oppositely extending shoulders, a guide plate embracing the strip, oppositely extending stems upon the tongue and movable within the guide plate, and yielding means for engaging either stem to hold the latch strip normally in a predetermined position within the guide plate, said strip and plate being reversible.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ENOCH S. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM S. COOKING, M. W. DAUBNEY. 

